


Bloom

by Inbredipus



Category: Original Work
Genre: Confessions, F/F, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 08:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13314225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inbredipus/pseuds/Inbredipus
Summary: “What are you doing?” Embla cursed inwardly at how her voice came out more a bark than a question.Melia shook her head, and a few of the leaves in her hair fell to the ground. She had only been missing for a day, but it weighed heavily on both of them for reasons they usually skirted around.





	Bloom

“Hey.” Embla’s roots felt twisted into knots. Melia was there, on her doorstep, alive. Sure, her makeup was running, sure, her clothes were dirty, and sure, her leaves seemed slightly wilted, but she was alive. Melia fidgeted awkwardly, her high heels clacking as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, but she kept her eye contact firm.

“Where the ever-living fuck were you?! I was considering going to Helheim just to make sure you weren’t there!” Embla’s relief took the form of rage. Melia had said nothing, just up and disappeared without a thought. Though Embla would never admit to herself that she had given up hope that Melia would come back, the look in Adam and Reyna’s eyes was certainly one of sympathy and sorrow. Her eyes had probably worn the same one, misted by the idea of future losses.

Melia’s eyes were at half-mast, but their green still struck Embla’s core like an arrow. “Hidin’.” At the sound of Melia’s drawn out honey-sweet voice, part of Embla just wanted to clasp the dryad to her chest and never let go; part of her also wanted to slap that sleepy grin off her face for making her worry so fucking much. Catching sight of Embla’s scowl, Melia rolled her shoulders, rubbed the back of her neck. “’s cold. Can I come in?”

It took no thought on Embla’s part to step out of the doorway, allowing Melia to pass. She thought she caught a glimpse of movement outside her door as she did so, but before she could investigate, Melia was closing the door behind her. It took her a while to lock the door, and Embla realized with a twinge that it was because her hands were shaking. Embla came up behind her and slid the lock in easily; she was rewarded with a quiet “thanks” from Melia.

This close, Embla could smell that honey and lavender perfume that was so uniquely Melia. It took her a bit more willpower than she wanted to admit to pull away. As soon as she did so, Melia sank to her knees in front of the door, as though Embla had been supporting her, a trellis to her vines.

“What are you doing?” Embla cursed inwardly at how her voice came out more a bark than a question.

Melia shook her head, and a few of the leaves in her hair fell to the ground. She had only been missing for a day, but it weighed heavily on both of them for reasons they usually skirted around.

“Sorry, just… He nearly got me, yanno?” Embla’s attention snapped to Melia’s words. “I nearly died.”

“You saw the killer!? How are you-”

“Prism rescued me.” A part of Embla, the part that she wished would just shut up right now, was annoyed about the wrench that would throw into the police’s understanding of the case. The rest of her was more than willing to ignore the statement entirely, because all that mattered right now was that Melia had nearly died, but that she was still here, leaning her forehead against Embla’s old door. “I had him bring me here.”

“Not the police? You fuckin’ idiot!” There was no venom in Embla’s words; she couldn’t muster the strength. Instead, she turned towards the kitchen. “I’ll call them.”

How Melia moved so fast for someone who constantly seemed on the edge of a nap would forever be a mystery to Embla. She was on her feet in a second, and in another second was holding Embla as tightly as she could, like she was afraid everything would slip between her fingers. “Please, not yet.” Her voice shook.

“What, why?” Embla was partially surprised at the softness of her own voice. Most of the surprise, however, could be attributed to Melia’s actions; neither of them were touchy people. In Embla’s case, it just irked her to bother with others, but by Melia’s own admission her case was more related to the fact that everything bored her. She had never really taken initiative, even when their eyes had started meeting more often during work, or when Embla’s words starting biting less, or even when the would accidentally brush past each other in the halls of the ranger’s station. This was a totally unprecidented situation.

“I…” Melia’s voice was all but a sob, but she managed to continue. “I thought that I was gonna die, Embla. When I thought that, I-I realized that I needed to see you, to be with you. I didn’t wanna die with regrets.”

Embla didn’t trust her own voice, so all she did was nod and place a hand on Melia’s arm as the taller woman began to cry into her shoulder.

“I-I-I-I need you, when I’m away from you I feel like I’m parched, like moss in a desert. I’m not alive when I’m not with you.” Melia’s words were occasionally interrupted by hiccuping breaths. “Please don’t hate me.”

“I’d need to be heartless to hate you,” Embla said with a short laugh. It took Melia by surprise, and Embla took the opportunity to change their positions, allowing them to face each other. Melia’s tan face was dripping with sap and pollen, ruining her makeup even more.

“But we’re plants, we don’t-” Melia began before Embla shut her up with a Look.

“Rot-for-brains, I’m trying to tell you that I’m the same!” Embla growled out. It seemed to take a few seconds for the words to decode themselves in Melia’s head, but once they did, her face was split by a grin.

“You’re-”

“If you say something sappy I will beat the shit outta you, I swear to the norns.”

Melia’s grin didn’t falter at Embla’s usual empty threats. “But we’re plants, everything we say is sappy!” She rubbed the mix of pollen and sap from her crying on her arm, grimacing slightly at the tackiness on her skin. Embla would forever be thankful for Melia’s resiliency; if this had broken her, Embla would have found the killer herself and extracted every bit of pain from him until he was wrung dry like a used washcloth. Hell, she was still debating doing it anyway, simply for making Melia cry.

“By the gods, you better not spend every fuckin’ date making terrible plant jokes.”

If Embla had thought that Melia couldn’t look any happier than she had when Embla had confessed, she would have just been proven wrong. The moment the word “date” left her lips, Melia bloomed with happiness, literally and figuratively; her hair was suddenly filled with small, delicate white flowers, the paleness contrasting beautifully with the grey-brown of her hair and the spring green of her leaves. She brought a hand to cover her mouth, but the grin spilled over the edges. “Date?”

“Oi, I dunno what crazy shit goes on in that head of yours, but where I’m from, if two people realize they both have feelings for each other, they start goin’ out.” Embla’s voice was bitter, but her words held no malice. She reached up to stroke Melia’s cheek, and Melia leaned into the touch happily. “So, we’re datin’ now, yeah?”

“I’d be honored.” Melia’s voice was filled with such reverence that it would’ve made a succubus blush.

“Fuckin’ idiot,” Embla murmured as she pulled Melia in for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a series of mine that basically features monsters living amongst humans but everything else is the same. Embla is a huldra, a swedish tree-lady, and Melia is a dryad. This story takes place after everyone thinks that Melia has been murdered by a serial killer, but she was rescued by the main character of the series (a carbuncle named Luka who goes around as a superhero named Prism). As soon as she was rescued, she told him to take her to Embla.


End file.
